John Beale brought decades of award-winning experience to the classroom
where he taught students to produce compelling still images and videos.
Prior to coming to Penn State, Beale worked as a staff photographer and
chief photographer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Beale's freelance work, including assignments for The Associated Press and ESPN.com,
has been widely published throughout the U.S. and beyond on websites, and in newspapers,
magazines, and books. Since 2016 he’s been an FAA-certified drone pilot,
utilizing the latest technology for capturing still photos and video for
publication and broadcast.
In 2017, Beale was one of six professors chosen from those teaching at Penn
State’s 20 campuses to be awarded the George W. Atherton Award for Excellence
in Teaching. In 2010 he received the College of Communications Deans’
Excellence Award for Integrated Scholarship.
Beale has served as a judge for numerous national, regional, and state
journalism competitions. Through his work as a board member for the
Pennsylvania School Press Association, he was instrumental in the establishment
of annual regional and state high school journalism education days and
competitions in Pennsylvania. He was a founding faculty member and coordinator
of the Keystone Multimedia Workshop, which provided video training for Pennsylvania
journalists and communicators for 12 years.
John Beale's work has been recognized with dozens of regional and national
accolades, including awards from the National Press Photographers Best of
Photojournalism competition, the Society of Professional Journalists Sigma
Delta Chi Awards, Pictures of the Year International awards, the Community
Service Photojournalism Award from the American Society of News Editors, the
Society for News Design awards, and photo of the year from the Pro Football
Hall of Fame.
Beale is a member of the AEJMC Visual Communication Division, the National
Press Photographers Association, and the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania. He
is a Distinguished Alumnus of Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
